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Fear of surveillance, lost benefit, or lack of interest – these are some of the reasons why people don’t install Corona’s warning apps. This is demonstrated by a survey carried out by ZHAW in Switzerland, Germany and Austria.
In September, researchers surveyed more than 3,000 people in the three German-speaking Alpine countries. They examined people’s reservations about smartphone apps that provide information about possible contacts with infected people.
Personal sensitivities outweigh social benefits
At the time of the survey, 46 percent of Swiss had installed the SwissCovid app, as the Zurich University of Applied Sciences (ZHAW) announced on Thursday. This figure is higher than the installation rate declared by the authorities of around thirty percent of the total population. In Germany (38 percent) and Austria (18 percent) even fewer of the respondents downloaded the app.
Data protection concerns were the most common reason given by the Swiss for not installing the app. A fifth of those surveyed even feared the pandemic was being misused for surveillance. Lack of interest (31 percent), missed benefits (26 percent), or missed worry (11 percent) were also mentioned.
“People who don’t install the app seem to consider their own sensitivity more than personal and social benefits,” said study author Caroline Brüesch.
Great confidence in the government
Those who installed the contact tracing app cited law enforcement campaigns and media coverage as the most common reasons. “People who install the contact tracing app have great trust in the national government, in Switzerland, especially in the Federal Council and in the state health authorities,” said Achim Lang, a co-author of the study.
Recently, two ETH researchers wrote in the trade journal “Science” that governments must do something to ensure that the population trusts corona warning applications. The apps would only be useful if enough people were using them – according to an Oxford University study, that would be 60 percent of the population. (SDA)
